Torness is a nuclear power station on the east coast of Scotland, 33 miles east of Edinburgh. It is capable of supplying electricity to over 2 million UK homes.
In 2020 Torness generated low carbon electricity for 2.7 million homes
Avoiding 3.4m tonnes of CO2 emissions*
Like taking 1.6m cars off UK roads for a year
*when compared to direct emissions of combined cycle gas turbines | all figures rounded to the nearest hundred thousand
About Torness
- Station Director: Paul Forrest
- Reactor type: 2 Advanced Gas-cooled Reactors
- Total supply to the national grid: 1190 MW
- Coolant: Carbon dioxide gas (CO2)
- Start of construction: 1980
- Start of generation: 1988
- Estimated end of generation: 2028
- People: Approximately 550 full time EDF employees plus over 180 full time contract partners
- Daily plant status - find out which reactors at our eight nuclear power stations are in service and what they are generating (data updated on weekdays)
Have you ever wondered about nuclear power’s carbon footprint?
A new analysis of Torness' lifecycle has revealed the carbon impacts are not what you might expect.
Visit Torness power station
This centre was recently awarded five stars by Visit Scotland for its standard of customer care and range of facilities.
The visitor centre has an interactive exhibition to help visitors learn about nuclear power generation. We have a fantastic classroom facility and you can also pre-book a tour of the power station for free.
Tour Information
Tour time: Approx 1.5 hours.
Minimum age: Minimum age for the station tour is 8 years old.
Bookings must be made at least 3 weeks in advance.
You will be accompanied by a trained station guide and will include the reactor viewing gallery and the turbine hall. All site tours include a safety and security briefing and the issue of relevant PPE (personal protective equipment).
Visitor Centre Opening Hours
We are open Monday to Thursday 09:00 – 16:00. For now we can only accommodate large groups on a Monday (maximum size of 20).
Whilst we welcome drop-in visitors please be aware that the Centre will be closed if we are out on a tour.
Festive Opening
The visitor centre will be closed from 22 December 2022 – 9 January 2023.
Covid Safety
Although there is no longer a legal requirement to wear face coverings we still strongly recommend that visitors wear them in our indoor spaces to help protect themselves and our staff. We want you to have a safe and enjoyable visit. Please do not visit the Visitor Centre if you or anyone in your household has any symptoms of Coronavirus.
Frequently asked questions
If you have any questions about the visitor centre, or about taking a tour, please check our FAQs.
If you have any questions about the visitor centre, or about taking a tour, please contact our visitor centre co-ordinator:
Telephone: 01368 873909
Address: Torness power station, Dunbar, East Lothian. EH42 1QS
Email: tornessvisitorcentre@edf-energy.com
Find out more about Torness
Safety and reporting
Our number one priority is safety. Find out about EDF Energy's commitment to Zero Harm.
Community
EDF hold regular meetings (Local Liaison Council or LLC) with local people, the media, council and emergency services representatives and local politicians to maintain regular communications about the nuclear site.
LLC Minutes from 2022 meeting
LLC Technical sub group minutes from March 2022 meeting
Contact Torness
- Address:
EDF Torness power station
Torness
Dunbar
East Lothian EH42 1QS
Reception:
+44 (0)1368 873000 - Media requests:
Fiona McCall
+44 (0)1355 846281
Community requests:
Ashleigh Dickson
+44 (0)1368 873 000
Find out more about EDF
Jobs at EDF
Interested in working at EDF? Find out about our graduate programmes, apprenticeships, internships and current vacancies.
How we generate our power
As Britain's biggest generator of zero carbon electricity(1) we generate power from wind + nuclear + solar.